Montenegro Court Denies Do Kwon's Extradition Appeal

By: Eliza Bennet

The Appellate Court of Montenegro has refused to halt the extradition of Do Kwon, co-founder of the now-defunct Terraform Labs, to South Korea. Kwon is facing criminal charges related to the collapse of Terra's algorithmic UST stablecoin, which resulted in losses exceeding $40 billion globally. The Court's decision is final and cannot be contested.

The developments in Kwon's extradition case have captivated international attention over the last year, with both the United States and South Korea seeking custody due to the high-profile nature of the case. Initially, a Montenegrin high court ruled in favor of extraditing Kwon to the US. However, the Appellate Court overturned this decision citing procedural violations.

Consequently, a retrial was ordered at the High Court of Podgorica. Here, it was determined that Kwon should be extradited to South Korea as their request had precedence over that of the US, a decision upheld by Montenegro's Appellate Court. Last month, Montenegro deported Terraform Labs' CFO, Han Chang-Joon, to South Korea to face criminal charges.